1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to provisioning information for emergency calls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Telecommunication carriers are required by government regulations to provide emergency calling services to their customers. In the United States and Canada, 9-1-1 is the official emergency phone number that callers can dial in order to reach dispatch personnel at public safety answering points (PSAP). When a caller dials 911 from a telephone, the call is routed by a carrier to receiving equipment at a PSAP facility. A dispatcher at the facility answers the call and assists the caller with their emergency.
Often times, dispatchers must dispatch response personnel to the scene of an emergency to render assistance to callers or others involved in the emergency. In the past, dispatchers had to ask a caller for their location. Over time, most telecommunication carriers developed the capability to automatically determine the location of landline callers. For instance, landline callers can be located based on their phone number.
Most carriers have also implemented solutions for determining the location of mobile callers. In the prior art, wireless carriers have employed several different solutions to locate callers in need of emergency service, such as providing the location of the cell tower servicing a call to a PSAP. In another example, wireless carriers employ triangulation techniques to pinpoint the location of a caller. In yet another example, mobile devices with global position system (GPS) capability provide their GPS coordinates to the carrier, and in turn, to the PSAP.
While it is possible to determine the location of a caller, present systems do not provide response personnel with other information that could improve the emergency response. For example, response personnel are not provided with information related to buildings or other such dwellings near the scene of an emergency.
In addition, it would be helpful to provide response personnel with information related to the people requiring emergency assistance. Some systems exist that store health and other personal information on behalf of customers. Response personnel can query the systems for the information using personal identifiers, such as names or social security numbers. The information is then returned to the response personnel and can be used it improve the emergency response. Unfortunately, such systems are open to abuse. For example, the personal health information belonging to a customer can be obtained without consent or authorization. As a result, privacy concerns have limited the popularity and implementation of such systems.